She has social cache and money, and is very fond of her daughter (bizarrely called Terence, or Terry) and seemingly satisfied with where she has now ended up. Some people are envious are her, and she seems divinely unaware of it. Certainly she isn’t desperate for a man, as so many single women are in novels of the period, and could perhaps have survived into her dotage without anything upsetting happening. As the novel opens, Jane has just married William Chirp. We don’t see any of their courtship or really get to understand what ended up with these two fairly unsuited people coming together in marriage. But perhaps we can guess – William is a widower who runs a grocer’s in the town and probably wants somebody at home to make his life comfortable again. Jane is a lady’s maid who is moving up in the world by marrying a man who owns a business and a home. No matter that they have little in common and even less to talk about. I’m racing through characters because there are an awful lot of people we get to know well – Lucas, Hervey and Bell also each have friends, some of whom have spouses and children to meet too. I think Cooper spread her net perhaps a little too wide, and sometimes I struggled to remember who people were or if we’d met them before. She is great at getting deep into someone’s personality, but slightly fewer people would have made this trait pay off a little better, in my opinion. At once her divided attention was startled into an extreme concentration. She turned and looked at her visitor with the rebuke of surprise. At no time did Daisy like being touched, and to be touched by strangers, other than in the formality of arrival or departure, had not yet come within her experience. Fortunately the hand grasping hers was gloved. She didn’t like skins.

Can you think of a time when you tried to solve a problem that didn't go as planned? What was the result? I try not to give away too many spoilers, which means I haven’t said much about the jasmine farm section of The Jasmine Farm, but is what saved the novel for me. I wish she’d managed to set the entire book there. But we got there eventually, and it reminded me what a marvel von Arnim was. Humorous Outcomes: The unexpected outcomes of Floyd's actions keep readers engaged and curious about what will happen next. Frisse, speelse tekeningen, overdrijving als stijlfiguur (recht in onze winkel, me dunkt) en een leuke plot die je telkens weer bij de neus neemt.

Looking for something different

Nobody has the zeal of the convert. The rest of this slim volume is about the joy of living with a cat (one cannot say ‘ownership’). He understands Monty’s character beautifully, not fabricating things that are not feline. He also understands Monty’s place in the food chain – killing rodents, but also under threat from neighbourhood foxes. Though Martha is not Jewish, they are accepted onto the kibbutz because they lie that they’re married. From the start, it doesn’t go well. Aaron is not built for physical labour, and finds the hours in baking heat harvesting vegetables both exhausting and mindless. He doesn’t particularly like the communal way of eating, or having other people’s children everywhere. Perhaps because he is escaping somewhere rather than being excited about the arrival, he resists everything. Even though we are in his mind, he is not a sympathetic character. It is evident that he considers himself too good for this. He died too soon, from pancreatic cancer, and is deeply missed by his parents, Frances and Anthony; his sisters, Helen and Cathy; his many friends in Vancouver, Toronto, England, and Paris. We are lost without his beautiful spirit. As for Hervey and Bell themselves – the lustre doesn’t last super long on their relationship, as anyone could tell. Hervey is monstrously selfish. He thinks it ‘makes sense’ for him to finish his play first rather than get a menial job, because then he will be a rich and successful playwright. But he hasn’t actually started the play yet, nor does he have any ideas for it. He lets Bell believe that her son will come and live with them, but secretly will refuse to allow this. He has, essentially, no redeeming qualities. Bell, on the other hand, is more floaty than selfish. She seems to live on another plane, where consequences of actions don’t quite exist. She means nobody any malice, but also doesn’t seem to walk with her feet on the ground. Perhaps the most touching relationship in this novel of flawed relationships is the platonic one she forms with a workman who shouts her a full English breakfast (because she has no money for meals) and they form an extraordinary friendship. It becomes the main plot of the latter section of The Double Heart, but I won’t say any more on that. But… Terry has other plans. We learn fairly early in the novel that she has been having an adulterous affair with a Mr Andrew Leigh, who seems rather too dull to have inspired one woman to want to be with him, let alone two. But such things are – and Mrs Andrew Leigh, Rosie, discovers the fact. Rosie has married ‘above her’, and sees this as an opportunity to unsettle the dignified, unkind, subtly sneering world into which marriage has brought her. (One brilliant moment describing her antagonism to Terry is: ‘she would have told her, too, if she hadn’t been so high and mighty, with her nails like reproaches and her clothes so many sermons’.)

Anyhow when the boy throws a ladder at the kite, my grandson immediately said, 'Why didn't he climb the ladder?' and my response was ''cuz he's a boy in a book.' Very little happens, apart from everything, save maybe the episode in which Carla’s ex, Maya (Eleanor Fanyinka), gives her and Dan a spliff and they go shoplifting in “the magic forest”. It’s their term for the independent, massively expensive deli nearby (she goes in to hold jars of costly preserves to her face and croon and frankly, I have never felt so seen).The Jasmine Farm (1934) isn’t one of Elizabeth von Arnim’s novels that I see discussed very often. It was her penultimate novel, and I will say at the outset that it is far from her best – but even in the worst von Arnims there is a lot to love, isn’t there? How about that window cord,” she said in a low, Sunday voice, straight forward into her collar. “Did you tell someone about it?”

Audience: This is a fantastic book for kids who like funny, silly stories. It is great for kids who like to read for humor as well as for teachers looking for a book to teach the reading strategy of making predictions. It would also be a great choice for a teacher looking for a book to use as a spring board for a fun writing assignment or a lesson on problem and solution. The larger size and non-conventional printing of the text as well as the strong illustration to text correlation would make it a good choice for a frustrated or reluctant reader to have a fresh fun start with a book. Look at the use of shadows in the illustrations. Can you draw some objects and their shadows? Could you draw the same scene at different times of the day? How would the shadows change? Of course, as ever, we are thinking six months ahead for the next club year – drum roll – see you in April for the 1937 Club! Floyd isn’t very good at throwing things into the tree. Can you design a game which might help improve your throwing skills? Could you have a competition with your friends in which you have to hit a target?

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Until… Lady Midhurst escapes the confusion and scandal of her daughter’s affair, and turns to this place where she was, briefly, happy. For while widowhood has been contented, and her marriage bearable, this was the only place where she truly knew joy. Appeal: The silly and outrageous nature of this book form the basis of it's appeal. It is a fun and easy book to enjoy over and over and has endless possibilities for continued story telling. Because it is written in a mix of cursive and print it may be a bit harder for younger kids to read it for themselves but it would make a really fun read aloud.

It is exceedingly kind of you,” said Daisy, slightly raising her eyebrows. They wouldn’t rise much, because of technical difficulties; but, as far as they would go, they went. Aaron writes his play and it is put on by a small theatre group – and, twist, it becomes a big success. Aaron at first finds this amusing – but Martha points out that his reputation as a writer is now settled. He can’t become a new novelist without this reputation. One thing leads to another, and they decide to move together to a kibbutz in Israel – a sort of communal living compound. They are able to move there under the then-rule that any Jewish person around the world could move to Israel (I believe it’s a bit more stringent now).I’m delighted that the 1962 Club is here – join Karen and me in reading and reviewing books from 1962. Any language, format, genre – we’d love to build up a picture of 1962 between us. We’ve been doing these club years for such a long time now, and it’s always a highlight of my reading/blogging year. Your idea is what it [marriage] used to be. When our parents were young they could believe in things lasting. How can we, when it’s obvious that we shall probably all be blown up in a year or two?”